Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva official for Brisbane's UFC Fight Night 33 headliner

As expected heavyweights Mark Hunt (9-8 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Antonio Silva (18-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) will meet in a five-round headliner during the UFC’s December return to Australia.

Officials today announced the event, UFC Fight Night 33, which takes place Dec. 7 in the Queensland capital at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Broadcast plans weren’t announced, but the event is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on Facebook. Due to the time difference, the event takes place Saturday, Dec. 7, in Australia (but Friday, Dec. 6, in the U.S.).

MMAjunkie.com passed along news of the bout this past week.

Silva is ranked No. 6 and Hunt is No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA heavyweight rankings.

Hunt is a 39-year-old New Zealander who now fights out of Australia, so he’ll be the local draw for this event. A longtime kickboxer, Hunt’s MMA record hovered around .500 when he joined the UFC, and a UFC-debut loss to Sean McCorkle dropped him to 5-7. However, he then rattled off wins over Chris Tuchscherer, Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve while picking up two “Knockout of the Night” bonuses in the process. However, in his most recent bout, his winning streak came to a halt with a KO loss to Junior dos Santos in a “Fight of the Night” performance at UFC 160.

The “Super Samoan” now meets “Bigfoot,” who defeated Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem to get a title shot against Cain Velasquez at UFC 160. However, the former EliteXC champ and Strikeforce vet suffered a TKO loss to the champ. With his past three losses all coming via knockout, the 33-year-old needs a win both for job security and his future health.

For the latest on UFC Fight Night 33, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Mark Hunt)